While the talk of the town yesterday was the religious woman, Lt. R. from Jerusalem, who graduated in yesterday’s class of new fighter pilots, she was far from the only religious personality in yesterday’s elite group.

25-year-old Lt. B. made a fateful decision to leave his Hesder yeshiva a few years ago, and try his hand at becoming a fighter pilot too, after getting permission from his Rosh Yeshiva.

But Lt. B. had another boss he had to confer with first… his wife.

Mrs. Lt. H. isn’t just his wife, but also an officer/engineer in a classified intelligence unit. She agreed, but on one condition… they have a baby.

Two years ago, and one year into the Lt. B.’s 3 year pilot course, their baby girl was born.

Newly-trained pilots at a training center in Istanbul were told by Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil last week that they were “absolutely” being encouraged to marry.

Kotil made the statement in context of an address on the subject of last month’s suicide plane crash in the French Alps by the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525.

“The lifestyles of our pilot friends, be they men or women, are extremely important,” Kotil told the new pilots. “Therefore, dear friends, we are absolutely encouraging those of you who are single, to marry.”

Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz suffered from depression, for which he previously had been treated. He reportedly told his girlfriend that he was planning a gesture that all would remember, according to Fox News.

Prosecutors are still investigating his motives for locking the pilot out of the cockpit before deliberately flying the commercial airliner into a mountainside in southern France.

Jordanian pilots honored their dead wing man Thursday in a flyby over his hometown as they returned from an unnamed “mission,” Jordan state-run television reported.

King Abdullah II was visiting the pilot’s family in Karak also on Thursday, just two days after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group released the barbaric video showing the captured pilot being burned alive in a cage.

Jordan’s military vowed to take full revenge on the group. The force is participating in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

The Hashemite monarch asked the Obama administration earlier this week for more “sophisticated air-to-ground weaponry, ground-to-ground weaponry, weapons like anti-tank [and] spare parts,” said Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Senator John McCain. Abdullah II managed to submit his request just prior cutting his visit short and flying back to Amman to deal with the murder of his air force pilot.

The senator told media that committee members from both sides of the aisle agreed to sign a letter to President Barack Obama to fast-track deliveries. He added that if the administration did not act immediately in response to the letter, “which every member is going to sign on this committee, we will then introduce legislation direct to the floor.”

Media reports in Arab and Kurdish news outlets reported overnight Wednesday that Jordanian Air Force fighter pilots struck dozens of ISIS fighters in Mosul, Iraq. An unconfirmed report claimed an ISIS commander for the Ninveh area, Abu Obeidah El Tunisi, was killed in the air strike.

Jordan threatened to avenge the death of its pilot at the hands of ISIS; on Wednesday two imprisoned Al Qaeda terrorists were hanged at dawn. Both were on death row and awaiting execution for multiple murders.

Jordan has vowed a “strong, earth shaking and decisive” response to a video of the execution of a Jordanian pilot by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group.

The January 3rd murder of 26-year-old pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, was announced Tuesday by the group.

The news came while Jordan’s King Abdullah II was in Washington DC for a state visit at the White House with Pres. Barack Obama. Abdullah II immediately cut short his visit to fly back to Amman to deal with the issue.

In response, Jordan’s military vowed its revenge would be as brutal as the execution of its much-loved pilot. Al-Kasaesbeh came from a well-known family in a large Bedouin tribe that forms the backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy.

The Hashemite monarch addressed Jordanians on national television via a video hookup from Washington, calling the murder an act of “cowardly terror” by a deviant group bearing no connection to Islam. He asked all Jordanians to unite.

“The sentence of death pending on … Iraqi Sajida al-Rishawi will be carried out at dawn,” said an unnamed security official, speaking to the AFP news agency.

“While the military forces mourn the martyr, they emphasize his blood will not be shed in vain,” said military spokesman Mamdou al-Ameri in a statement read on Jordanian state television.

Thousands of Jordanians gathered in the pilot’s hometown of Karak, burning tires and blocking roads to demand justice and express their outrage at his death and the means used to kill him.

The United States hasn’t yet confirmed the authenticity of a video purporting to show the murder of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh, held captive since December 2014 by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) since his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Syria.

The video shows the pilot, wearing the typical orange prisoner jumpsuit, being burned alive in a cage, according to the SITE Intel Group, a Maryland-based analysis firm. A trail of gasoline is seen being poured in a trail leading up to the cage, and then set alight. The video is entitled “Healing the Believers Chests.”

Within an hour after media announced the video was uploaded to the Internet, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a somewhat restrained, almost subdued statement condemning the group for the murder.

“Should the authenticity of this video be confirmed, its just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization,” Obama said.

Shortly after, White House spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement, using another acronym for the terrorist group, “The United States strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for the immediate release of all those held captive by ISIL. We stand in solidarity with the Government of Jordan and the Jordanian people.”

The government of Jordan has issued a statement confirming that a video uploaded by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) shows the execution of captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh, held hostage by the group since December 2014.

The 26-year-old pilot was burned to death in a metal cage by the group on January 3 — five weeks ago. He is seen in the video wearing the typical orange jumpsuit of the ISIS prisoners and a trail of gasoline is poured in a trail leading up to the cage, and then set alight. The video is entitled “Healing the Believers’ Chests.”

The date of the execution explains why the group was unable to provide the Jordanian government with any signs of life from the pilot in negotiations for a prisoner swap. It also explains why he was not seen in the execution videos involving the two Japanese captives, both of whom are now dead. A video of the second beheading was posted to the Internet just three days ago.

“This is just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement within the hour after news of the murder was announced, “should the authenticity be confirmed.”

Jordan had warned yesterday (Monday, Feb. 2) that if the ‘hero’ Kasaesbeh came to any harm, Amman would “quickly judge and sentence” all those being held on suspicion of membership in ISIS. Last week Jordan also vowed to “fast-track” the execution of the Iraqi Al Qaeda suicide bomber being held on death row that was to be swapped for the pilot, if he was killed.

Bedouin Wrath

King Abdullah’s father, the late King Hussein, declared military rule and slaughtered more than 7,000 Palestinians on September 16, 1970, in response to an attempt by Palestinian Arab fedayeen to seize his kingdom. Thousands of other Palestinians were expelled as well.

The Hashemite monarch is the oldest son of King Hussein, who was said to be a direct descendant of the founder of Islam, the 6th century prophet Muhammad. The family is Bedouin, as is the rest of the extended royal family and those who support the monarchy in Jordan.

In Bedouin culture, those who create an enemy in a blood feud, as has ISIS with Jordan, create an enemy “unto the seventh generation.” The concept of “an eye for an eye” applies, sometimes with added murders for good measure. Such feuds between individuals and extended families or other parties can continue for decades.

It is the practice of the local Council of Sheikhs to attempt to work out a “sulhah” — a peace deal — between the parties involved, in order to avoid excess and ongoing bloodshed between communities. In this case, however, such a tradition is not relevant.

It remains to be seen whether Abdullah II has the courage of his father and the fortitude to carry out the threat he has made.

Kasazbeh’s warplane was allegedly shot down over Raqqa, Syria. Photos of the pilot being dragged half-naked from a lake were flashed around the Internet by ISIS at the time. Other sources also later reported the pilot’s jet crashed in northeastern Syria during a U.S.-led coalition bombing mission against ISIS.

The terror group demanded that Jordan free female Iraqi Al Qaeda suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, who is imprisoned in Jordan on death row for her involvement in a suicide bombing attack that killed 60 people in 2005. Her own explosives vest failed to detonate, and she was captured.

Jordan last week agreed in negotiations with the terrorist group to swap Rishawi for Kasaesbeh, but insisted the group provide proof the pilot was still alive. When Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was murdered last Friday, the execution video did not show the Jordanian pilot as the customary “next victim,” leading the Jordanians to question whether Kasaesbeh was still alive.

Nevertheless, the Hashemite Kingdom said Sunday, “We are still ready to hand over the convict Sajida al-Rishawi in return for the return of our son and our hero,” Reuters reported, despite the beheadings of both Japanese hostages with whom the pilot had allegedly been held. There were also ongoing protests in Karak, the hometown of the pilot, who was from an important Jordanian tribe that forms the main pillar of support for the Hashemite monarch.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called King Abdullah II over the weekend to thank him for his efforts in trying to secure the release of the Japanese hostage, “who was killed in cold blood and without any justification,” a palace statement revealed.